Melody Makers Hum A Few Bars,

And Somebody Sells A Lot Of Beer

November 03, 1988|By James Warren.

People go to work every day. On Wednesday, the campaign to choose the Leader of the Free World came to Chicago. Scientists at Fermilab studied the photon. And in a North Loop loft, Gary Klaff and Mark Weinstein created a new jingle for Wonder Bread.

Klaff and Weinstein spent the day kneading dough into a sweet tune as they labored in disgustingly enviable informality. Plushly furnished, the loft has pianos, guitars, the fanciest recording equipment, a big kitchen replete with a barber`s chair and a pitching wedge for practicing golf shots on the carpeted hallway.

The duo rate these appointments because they`re probably Chicago`s most successful songwriters for TV commercials-among the best nationwide-and surely the kings of beer ads. When Weinstein surfaces in shorts and a sports shirt and immediately sets to work on a tennis ball with the wedge, one discerns how creative and financial contentment can be found in jingles. Oops.

``We would never do, `Handy Andy, You`ve Got It Made,` `` asserted Klaff, 46, a Wilmette native who aspired to folksinging, then got sidetracked by higher education and advertising.

It is likely that, put on the hot seat, most of us-exclude anybody at the University of Chicago or Michael Dukakis-would admit to having sometimes hummed a jingle. Those might even include efforts wholly created, redone or supervised by Klaff/Weinstein:

``Leave It to the Good Hands People`` (Allstate Insurance), ``Your Hometown Pizza Hut,`` ``Take a New Look at An Old Friend-Jewel,`` ``Ace Is the Place,`` ``Michelob Light for the Winners,`` ``Head for the Mountains of Busch,`` ``Taurus-For Us,`` ``How About a Nice Hawaiian Punch,`` ``There`s a Special Feel in an Oldsmobile,`` ``Turn It Loose`` (Coors Light), Frank Sinatra`s ``Just the Way You Look Tonight`` (Michelob) and the biggie . . . ah, more about that later.

And they don`t merely service corporate America. They`ve done music for campaign commercials of the late Mayor Harold Washington and Sen. Paul Simon; a United Auto Workers TV campaign to mark its 50th anniversary; a new alma mater for the University of Illinois-Chicago; and ``Oh, Arkansas,`` an anthem for this year`s sesquicentennial of-take a guess.

Several ad executives said that the ditty-designing duo bring a serious, even cerebral bent to a fiercely competitive, lucrative profession that provides a curious perspective on America.

They study a product, its target audience and the audience`s preferences and outlook. How might they differentiate between Coors and Michelob? Does a particular pitch to a blue-collar group suggest a need for music that`s more clasical, pop or crossover country?

When Budweiser took its ``This Bud`s For You`` commercials to Australia, recalled Weinstein, it ran into a culture that sees beer as another beverage, not a reward for work. A subtle message in much American advertising-the product as prize-failed.

Moreover, they fight the reality of the decreasing staying power of music and ads. ``Everything now is a bite,`` bemoaned Weinstein, convinced that our ability to switch channels with remote control further shortens attention spans.

Where they once did many 60- and 30-second spots, now they`re asked for 15-seconds of ingenuity. It`s not much time to establish a mood. They must saturate the airwaves or produce a singular song.

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Klaff, who doesn`t write music notation and prefers the guitar when composing (with a tape recorder nearby), met Weinstein when both were at another music company. They headed out on their own and, luckily, attended a 1982 party given by Klaff`s mother-in-law.

Anheuser-Busch aimed to take after Miller Brewing Co`s hugely successful Lite beer. It had hired the pair to create ``something heroic,`` a veritable beer anthem, to hawk its Bud Light in test marketing the next year and during the 1984 Summer Olympics broadcasts.

Klaff and Weinstein fiddled at the mother-in-law`s piano and, alas, came up with the four, opening notes that would make alcoholic beverage legend. The ``Bring Out Your Best`` theme made ad history. For the vocal, they picked an unknown Detroit singer with a gritty voice who, said Klaff, ``sounded like a guy who`d struggled.``

The Budweiser ads became TV`s most lauded beer campaign, especially a spot with two farmers leaning against a fence and watching a runner with the Olympic torch. It received four of the industry`s Oscars and kudos at the Cannes Film Festival, while the singer became prosperous from residuals. And the team of Klaff/Weinstein was on the map.

Since a big-time firm can receive anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 in creative and arranging fees and costs for a song, according to ad executives, the moral is obvious: Don`t turn down invitations from your mother-in-law.

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Since much of their work is known to us, one felt compelled to ultimately venture into uncharted territory with Klaff and Weinstein. What about those lyrics for ``Oh, Arkansas``?

It`s the spirit of our fathers,

It`s the spirit of our kids,

It`s the spirit of the music that we play.

Oh, Arkansas, Oh, Arkansas, Arkansas, USA.

``I`m told that when President Reagan recently showed up at the airport in Little Rock, he was met by 5,000 people singing that a cappella,`` a proud Klaff said.